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Rowlf the Dog
Rowlf the Dog was the first Muppet to reach national stardom as a cast member of The Jimmy Dean Show from 1963 to 1966. He later went on to serve as the resident piano player on The Muppet Show, also playing the silly surgeon Dr. Bob on the recurring sketch "Veterinarian's Hospital." Performing Rowlf Rowlf is a live hand puppet. Jim Henson would usually perform the head (and voice) and left hand, while another Muppeteer (including, at various times, Frank Oz, Jerry Juhl, Jerry Nelson, Louise Gold, and Steve Whitmire) performed his right hand. However, when Rowlf played the piano, Henson would helm the head and the second performer would control both hands on the keys. Steve Whitmire commented on performing Rowlf's piano-playing hands in a 1999 interview: “One of my favorite things to do, ever, in my career, has been to do Rowlf’s hands on the piano, which is something that other people had done, but once I started doing it, I kind of have done it since... It’s the best job in the world for somebody who sort of plays the piano, but would really like to play the piano well...you can approximate what it’s supposed to be and make it look really good.” Derek Scott, a musical consultant for The Muppet Show, supplied Rowlf's pre-recorded piano playing on the program. Rowlf's fingering was never actually worked to be accurate, yet the illusion was not broken due to careful practice and skill of timing and approximating. Steve Whitmire said that when he was going to helm the hands on the keys he would spend hours learning every nuance of a pre-recorded piano track to make it look believable. Rowlf's piano was a dud, the hands could bang the keys with no sound being emitted; instead, the pre-recorded piano track would handle the music. However, in episode 309 Rowlf had to come in and start playing the same piano which guest star Liberace was performing on. Since the number, including Liberace's actual piano playing, was recorded live, Derek Scott was off camera tickling the ivories while Rowlf mimed the actions on stage. On close inspection of the scene, a viewer can see that Rowlf is actually not touching any of the keys, just banging the air above them so as to not emit any stray sounds and ruin the take. Although people tend to identify Jim Henson with Kermit the Frog, according to many sources (including Jim Henson: The Works), Rowlf's laid back and down to earth personality was perhaps the closest to Henson's real life demeanor and personality. Brian Henson stated in a Muppet Show introduction that "Kermit was my father's best-known character, but a lot of people think he was more like Rowlf in real life...except he couldn't play the piano as well." On most occasions, Muppets do not appear to have legs, as they are meant to be shown primarily above the waist. There are times, however, in which a character's legs are visible for certain scenes. In the case of Rowlf, his legs can be glimpsed at the beginning of "Never Before, Never Again" in episode 418 of The Muppet Show.3 One "goof" includes a Veterinarian's Hospital sketch, where Rowlf falls into the operating table, and the bottom of the puppet is shown, sans legs. In the Dog City special, Rowlf comes rolling out on his piano, playing it and driving it at the same time during the dramatic chase scene. In this appearance, Rowlf's full body is shown (it is shown that he is rather chubby in the middle, like Fozzie Bear). In The Great Muppet Caper, his full legs are also exposed several times. Casting History * Jim Henson - from Purina Dog Chow Commercials (1962) to The Muppets at Walt Disney World (1990) * Bill Barretta - from Muppets Tonight (1996) to Present Category:Muppet Characters